Tim Custis is a practitioner, teacher and founder of Spiral Release Bodywork®. He is a certified Master BioSync® practitioner and a member of Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. From his own life experience, Tim believes that pain is a tool that can be used for personal/spiritual growth and change. Overcoming a severe back injury, emotional and spiritual challenges, including alcoholism, Tim now lives a sober and pain free life. Since 1987, the focus of his practice is helping facilitate change for people with a wide variety of physical, emotional and spiritual challenges. He can be reached at (408) 736-5136 or www.spiralrelease.com.

The American Holistic Health
Association has compiled a
collection of self-help articles
to support your efforts to
enhance your own health and
well-being.

On The Path

by Tim Custis, NMT

Have you ever been told you’ll just have to live with the pain, that nothing can be done! Well I have. Did you take that statement as fact? Or did you question what you were told? Did you try to find help anyway? Unfortunately most people don’t. We are conditioned to believe that the doctor is always right. If you believe what you’re told it can become your reality and this reality is not necessarily the truth.

When I was 16 years old I sprained my back while lifting. I wasn’t even aware of it until I tried to get out of bed the next morning. Well that was just the beginning of my back problems. I continued to experience problems from time to time. Then several years later, I was helping a friend move. I bent over to pick up a refrigerator and couldn’t stand up. This was the most horrendous pain I had ever experienced in my life. I was admitted to the hospital and there I stayed for nine days. An orthopedic surgeon and a rheumatologist saw me, and several other doctors were consulted, but nothing was found that explained my pain. X-rays showed nothing. Then a CAT scan revealed a small protrusion on one of my lumbar disks, but this did not explain all the pain I was experiencing. Different arthritic medications were tried, also cortisone shots, epidural injections and I could go on. About that time, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) became available. The MRI showed I had protrusions on four of my five lumbar disks.

The multiple protrusions explained my pain and discomfort, however I was told that NOTHING could be done. There I was in pain 24 hours a day. As I look back on the experience, I can honestly say, I am truly grateful to those doctors. Why, if just one doctor had suggested surgery I would have jumped at the chance. I would have done anything to be free of pain. Little did I know this attitude would be my savior.

Now my journey really began. I was determined not to let this opinion become my reality. Over the next few years, I started looking for something, anything that would help. Chiropractic treatments gave me some relief, but I was going three times a week for over 18 months and towards the end it was not helping at all. So I started looking into other alternative modalities, beginning with massage and acupuncture. I received some benefit from this work, but still I was in pain 24 hours a day. My chiropractor knew I was searching for a solution. He suggested that I see Mark Lamm. Mark practiced a technique he developed called BioSync®. BioSync is a form of bodywork that releases the holding in connective tissue. This work changed my body and my life, so much so that I became a BioSync practitioner. I have been practicing for the past twelve years.

The point of my story is not to tell you about BioSync, but to let you know that if you want to be pain free then you must seek out and create your healing. You must heal yourself! Don’t look to someone else for YOUR healing. This is not always an easy journey, but it will be the most rewarding one of your life. Pain is with us for a reason. Unfortunately, we are conditioned by society to run from pain or medicate. If you use pain as a tool for discovery and healing, then the truth will be found. Does this mean that we can live pain free? I believe so, if you are willing to listen to what pain has to say. Pain is not your enemy; it can be a guide to self-discovery and an ally to freedom. It takes strength and courage to move through your “dis-ease.” The Way Of The Wizard says “Pain isn’t the truth. It’s what mortals go through to find the truth”

Do not look for another person to heal you. Healing comes from within you. However we don’t always have to make the journey alone. I consider myself to be a healing facilitator, not a healer. I work with clients to help them reach their goal, to heal themselves.

There are literally hundreds of modalities and thousands of practitioners. How do you know what will work for you and who is the best practitioner? I believe that asking questions can be one of your most valuable tools. Knowledge has organizing power in it. Knowledge and unbending intention will help you find what will work. Don’t be afraid to try new things. One type of work will not help everyone but there is something for you if you look. The first time I experienced BioSync I knew I had found what would work for me. You will also know, just listen.

Here are some examples of questions to ask of any practitioner, but think about what’s important to you.

How long have they been in practice?

How were they trained?

Who trained them?

What led them into their work?

Get the name of a client you can call.

Do they get worked on?

It’s very important to work with a practitioner that you feel comfortable with and can trust. You can experience a session with a hundred different practitioners and each session would be distinct, even though they’re practicing the same modality. Each practitioner brings his or her own skills, knowledge and personality to the experience. The more you trust and can become a part of the experience, the more change you can create. This includes good communication. Who knows your body better than you do? Let us know where to work and what you’re feeling.

I find the best practitioners come from referrals, a friend or co-worker. Talk to people. Let them know you are looking for someone or something. You might be surprised at just how much help you’ll get.

Embrace change in your life and your body. Don’t quit! Keep looking for the results you want. “You are the unconditioned spirit trapped in conditions, like the sun in eclipse.” Rumi, the Persian poet.